


Mishap on the Nile

by Lady_Sci_Fi



Series: Adventures in Egypt [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 17:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12752757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Sci_Fi/pseuds/Lady_Sci_Fi
Summary: While the Doctor and Sarah explore Ptolemaic Egypt, something happens to the Tardis, potentially leaving the pair stranded.





	Mishap on the Nile

**Author's Note:**

> In Assassin's Creed Origins, you can find the Tardis on the bottom of the Nile near Letopolis. I couldn't resist the opportunity.

 “Sarah! We’ve materialized,” the Doctor called out as he made his way to the wardrobe, where he had told Sarah to meet him.

 “Good!” Sarah replied. When the Doctor walked into the room, she asked, “You sure we’re wherever you want us to be?”

 The Doctor nodded eagerly. “I stepped out to make certain. Now…” he turned to rifle through the clothing options. “I know I’ve got something here for us both…”

 “You still haven’t told me where we’re going,” Sarah prompted.

 “You’ll see soon enough.”

 Sarah smiled in affection at the man’s back. She enjoyed it when he got into his secretive surprise mood. It usually led to pleasant times.

 “Ah, here we are. Yours.” The Doctor held up a one-shoulder tunic-style dress, then tossed it to Sarah. A brown hooded travel cloak followed a couple seconds later.

 Sarah caught them and held the dress against herself to get a good look before she changed. It was a light blue colour, and quite simple in make and design. It went down to mid-shin. “Sometime in the past?” she guessed.

 “Yes.” Though the Doctor didn’t give any other clue to their location. “Look through the shoes area. There should be some simple leather ones.”

 Sarah went over to the area and started looking for anything that could go with the dress. “You’re certainly taking care to make sure we blend in with the locals.”

 “Something approximate enough. We’ll probably find something more specific while we’re out.”

 “Plan to be away from the Tardis long, then?” It took a few moments for Sarah to find rustic leather boots for herself and the Doctor. She turned to him to find him already changed into something similar in style to her dress. “Very nice,” she commented, looking him over. His tunic was pale red, and went down to his knees. His full-length cloak matched hers. She appreciated it, since it was rare occasion when he changed out of his normal variety of outfits.

The Doctor walked over to Sarah, took the shoes for him, and beamed, “Why aren’t you dressed, yet? Come on!”

 “Alright, alright,” Sarah turned to take off the clothes she was wearing.

 The Doctor quickly found a leather messenger-style bag, and started mumbling to himself.

 “What’s that?” Sarah asked.

 “Just a few things we’ll need from the Tardis before we leave. I’ll meet you in the control room in a few minutes.”

 A minute after the Doctor left, Sarah was changed, and looked at herself in the mirror. She was reminded of a Roman style, though what she and the Doctor were wearing didn’t match anything of the aristocrats she’d seen in movies. “Mediterranean, at any rate,” she remarked. Hopefully, she and the Doctor would make an inconspicuous pair.

Sarah went to the control room to find the Doctor stuffing a few more things into his bag. “You’re certainly preparing more than usual.”

 “We don’t want to be stuck without rations or basic supplies.”

 “Is this an expedition, then?”

 The Doctor beamed. “Something like that. Of course, we will get more from the locals as we need them. We also should give a certain impression to avoid being conspicuous.”

 “When have you ever been concerned about that?” Sarah teased.

That only made the Doctor’s smile bigger. “Come along, Sarah.”

 Sarah adjusted her cloak as they stepped out of the Tardis into dense vegetation. She could hear gently running water nearby, and turned to find the source. Only a few meters away flowed a large river. She could see to the other side, and saw a large town on the opposite shore. But it was what was behind that that made her stare open-mouthed. She could see most of the entire thing, certainly enough to know what it was, glinting in the sun.

 “The Great Pyramids of Egypt?” She could only see one from this angle, but she assumed all three were there.

 “In most of their splendor,” the Doctor confirmed.

 “They’re shining white, with gold on the top! They’re only brown in my time. How far back are we?”

 The Doctor locked the Tardis door and started moving branches to obscure the Tardis from obvious sight. “Oh… 45 BCE. The Ptolemys are in power.”

 “You mean Cleopatra’s family?”

 “The same. In fact, I think it’s her on the throne…” The Doctor stepped back to look at his handiwork. “That should be good enough.” He stood by Sarah’s side for a moment, looking at the sight himself. Then, with a kiss to her cheek, he gestured for her to follow him up the shore. “There’s a dock nearby. With any luck, we’ll find an unused boat.”

 Sarah took the Doctor’s hand as they walked, simply taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the Nile’s bank. Then a negative thought entered her mind. “Doctor, we won’t run into any Osirans, will we?” While the Doctor had told her the Osirans were a generally good people, Sutekh excepted, she didn’t know how to feel about meeting another of their race.

 “All that was thousands of years before this time. We won’t have any worries from them.”

 “Good.” Sarah leaned into him. “You said you wanted to create a certain impression on the locals. What did you mean? Will we say we’re Roman?”

 “Greek. The political climate with the Romans is somewhat tense.”

 “Hm… a couple of Greek travelers, then?”

 “Exactly.”

 “Couldn’t get any more far-travelled than us.”

 The Doctor laughed. When they reached the dock and found a reed boat, he stepped onto it. He held out his hand to Sarah. “You accept my offer?”

 Without hesitation, Sarah took his hand and stepped onto the boat. “Of course I do.” She stood on her toes to kiss him. When they broke apart, she sat in the middle of the boat, looking out at the river.

 The Doctor took hold of the punt pole and pushed them away from the dock, heading for the opposite shore, towards the Giza Plateau. “Egypt awaits us, Sarah!”

 ********

 Several weeks later, the Doctor and Sarah were once again punting across that same spot of the Nile River, their exploration adventure having come to an end. Sarah had thoroughly enjoyed herself. They had never done this before, parking the Tardis in a spot and travelling around someplace new for an extended time. No threats from invading forces, no nefarious plots, no one trying to kill them… Just the two of them travelling via horse, camel, and boat. She was only the slightest bit disappointed that they hadn’t met Cleopatra while in Alexandria, because really, the last thing they needed was to get involved in royal and political intrigue. 

 The Doctor had greatly enjoyed himself as well, having said it had been a long time since he had done this. He had told her of the time he had spent travelling through China with Marco Polo.

 “We should do something like this again sometime,” Sarah suggested.

 “Indeed. You can pick the place next time.”

 Sarah smiled as she thought of potential places. She raised a sun-tanned arm to shield her eyes as she looked downriver, wanting one more beautiful sight before they left. One more sight to remember in addition to the beauty of the desert, oases, river landscapes, and grand temples and buildings.

 The Doctor stopped pushing on the pole, leaving them to gently drift with the river’s flow. Sarah sensed something was wrong and turned to him. “What is it?”

 “I’ve just realized. The shoreline is different over there from when we arrived. It was different from where we set off from, too.”

 “How can you tell? We’ve been up and down a lot of the Nile.”

 “It’s now the flooding season.”

 “What does that have to… the Tardis?”

 The Doctor started punting again, his pace a little more urgent than before. He turned slightly to take them directly to where they had left the Tardis, instead of the dock.

 The Doctor didn’t even wait until the reed boat had completely come ashore before jumping off. His leather boots splashed down in the water. His fingers nervously played with the Tardis key hanging from his neck.

 Sarah waited until the boat made proper landfall to join him. The Doctor stood and turned in a circle, looking for anything blue amongst all the vegetation. After a moment, he let out a sigh, and pointed to a particular spot, a little distance past the boat.

 “That was where we left the Tardis,” the Timelord stated. “It didn’t get pushed further up the bank.”

 Sarah understood what the Doctor was getting at. “What if it was taken by someone? If someone came across it and thought it was valuable…”

 “It would be a task to get it out of the vegetated area and onto a sturdy enough cart or boat.”

 “Well, let’s check the shore a bit downriver,” Sarah suggested.

 The Doctor nodded, and they set off walking, staying close to the water’s edge. It didn’t take long for them to realize the answer wasn’t as simple as the water having moved the Tardis a short distance along land. They went back to the boat, and the Doctor started doing some verbal calculations.

 “Taking into account the potential power of floodwater, how much force it would take to move the Tardis, and how high the river has risen so far, and the river’s speed of drift…”

 Sarah smoothed down the front of her white and blue dress. She followed the Doctor back onto the reed boat, and sat at the front as he took the pole. A few minutes of punting later, the boat stopped. They were near the middle of the river’s width, and some distance downriver from where they had started.

 “We’ll start looking around here,” the Doctor stated with certainty. When Sarah turned to him, he smiled. “Care for a swim?”

 “You know I’m not a strong swimmer. Besides, this looks more like a diving expedition.”

 The Doctor nodded. He stripped off his travel bag and tunic, down to his thin trousers.

 “You’ll be careful,” Sarah said.

 “Of course. I’m only going to find where exactly it is.”

 “I meant from any wild animals.” They hadn’t had any bad run-ins with crocodiles or hippos, and Sarah wanted it to stay that way.

 “They stay near the banks,” the Doctor pointed out. “I wish I had something like a buoy to tie to it when I find it. Oh well, I have a good memory. I’ll be back up soon enough.”

 Sarah did take a second to appreciate the sight of the shirtless Timelord before he dove into the water. She leaned over the edge of the boat to watch him kicking downward, until he disappeared into the darkness below. She could tell that they were in a deep part of the river, and could only hope it wasn’t too deep for the man’s oxygen supply, physical Timelord capabilities or not.

 The minutes ticked by, with Sarah steadily getting more anxious. Waiting for him to return from something was always worse than being with him, no matter the level of danger. Still, she couldn’t help but to find the situation funny. The Tardis being swept into the Nile by the annual flooding. Of all the things that could possibly happen to it… She shook her head. If the Doctor found it, then it meant it hadn’t been stolen and they wouldn’t have to track it down. But then, if he found it, they would have the problem of recovering it. While she had no doubt the Tardis could take off from underwater, getting into it would be a problem.

 Sarah turned at the splash on the other side of the boat. The Doctor surfaced a meter away. He tossed his hair back from over his eyes, swam the short distance to the boat, and pulled himself partway up to rest on his forearms. He barely seemed out of breath. “It’s not directly below us. It’s quite deep down there.”

 Sarah sat cross-legged in front of the Timelord. “Theoretically, how far could it have been swept along?”

 “Depends on the surface of the bed. It’s far from smooth down there. There are lots of things it could’ve gotten stuck on or had its progress impeded by. Boulders, thick vegetation… I doubt it could’ve been dragged for miles. No, now I’m certain the old girl’s in this area.”

 “I doubt she’ll be happy with you when you find her,” Sarah teased.

 “I wouldn’t be either. Poor thing.” The Doctor let go of the boat and prepared to dive down again.

 “Wait a second,” Sarah leaned forward to grab his arm. “Quick question. How long can you hold your breath? I want to know when I should start to worry.”

 The Doctor simply patted her hand and gave her a reassuring smile before diving down again.

 Sarah sighed. “That’s not a proper answer.” She took up position to keep watch for him again.

 The Doctor resurfaced and dived down a couple more times.  A few minutes later, Sarah was pulled from her thoughts by a voice calling out, “Greetings, nebet.”

 She looked up to see an approaching larger sailed reed boat with an Egyptian man at the pole, wearing a white hooded outfit with a red belt and orange sash over one side. “Uh, hello.”

 The man steered his boat to pull up and stop alongside hers. “You seem troubled. Staring down into the water… you have lost something to the river?”

 “I hope not. My husband has gone down to find it.” Sarah internally smiled at the chance to use that title for the Doctor again. It was part of their cover story.

 “There are many treasures lost to the Nile. I’ve come across a few myself.”

 “Yes, well,” Sarah looked down to the water again. “I hope he doesn’t join that collection. He’s been down there a while. Sometimes, I think he forgets he’s mortal.” She turned back to the man. When it was clear he wasn’t going to leave her, she introduced, “I’m Sarah.”

 The man bowed his head slightly. “Bayek.” He tied the back supports of their boats together, then stepped onto hers. He looked her over, noticing the trousers under her dress, knife tucked into a thin belt at her waist, and two leather messenger bags next to her. “You are travelers?”

 Sarah nodded. “We’ve been doing that for a while.”

 Bayek smiled. “How far have you been?”

 “Very far.”

 “I’m certain you have many interesting stories to tell.”

 “The Doctor is better at-“

 Sarah and Bayek turned at the splashing sound on the other side of Bayek’s boat. They both rose and stepped onto his boat. The Doctor treaded water nearby, and looked relieved to see Sarah.

 “For a moment, I thought I have gone further than expected, and came up near the wrong boat,” the Doctor said. He swam to the side of Bayek’s boat and grinned to Sarah. “I found it.”

Bayek reached down to help pull the Doctor up. The Timelord accepted the help, and sat against the mast. Sarah pushed the Doctor’s hair back from his face. “Good, and you’ll remember exactly where it is?”

 The Doctor nodded, then asked, “Who’s your friend?”

 “Doctor, this is Bayek. Bayek, the Doctor.”

 “You address your husband by a title?”

 “It’s what he prefers to be called,” Sarah shrugged.

 “Hm… What is it you have lost?”

 Sarah looked to the Doctor, curious how he was going to explain the Tardis.

 “It’s a… cabinet. Large enough for a few men to fit inside. It’s quite valuable to us. We left it over there some time ago.” The Doctor gestured to river bank some distance away.

 “But then it was swept away by the Nile. Someone didn’t realize it would soon be the flood season when we left it,” Sarah explained.

 “No one’s perfect, Sarah.” The Doctor looked Bayek over. “I would hate to impose on you if you’re busy, but we could use some help in retrieving it from the bottom of the river.”

 Bayek stripped off his weapons and top part of his outfit. “I would have to see it to know what we’ll need to do.”

 “The sun is setting,” Sarah stated. “You should go before it gets too dark.”

 The Doctor smiled and scooted to the edge of the boat. “Bayek, we’re very fortunate you’ve stumbled across us.” He turned to Sarah, kissed her cheek, then slipped into the water. Bayek dove in after him.

 Sarah watched the two men swim out a good distance before going down. She didn’t have to wait as long as before for them to surface, since the Doctor now knew exactly where the Tardis was. She helped pull the Doctor back up, and let out a little squeak as he shook his head and sprayed her with water.

 “Where is that from?” Bayek asked as he dressed. “It hummed under my hand when I touched it, and I have never seen that style of writing adorning it.”

 Sarah waited a moment to give the Doctor back his tunic and cloak, appreciating the sight of him wet and half-clothed in the light of the setting sun.

 As the Doctor pulled on his tunic, he dismissively answered Bayek’s question with, “Far from Egypt.”

 Bayek seemed to understand that was the most they were going to say on the matter. “We’ll need a trireme. Reed boats aren’t going to be strong enough.”

 The Doctor nodded. “Along with a good length of rope and a pulley system.”

 Bayek nodded. “Follow me back to Letopolis.” He pointed to the town across the river, the same the Doctor and Sarah had gone to when they first arrived. The two travelers stepped onto their boat, and Bayek untied them.

 Once in Letopolis, they found an inn. Over dinner, they discussed the specifics of what they needed, and estimated it would take two days to get everything.

 Once Bayek left them and they were in their rented room, Sarah asked, “Will two more days hurt the Tardis?”

 The Doctor shook his head. “It’s been weeks already. Another two days won’t do anything. It’s also quite stuck, so we don’t have to worry about her moving on us.”

 Sarah dropped her bag and sat on the mattress. “Not a bad place to be for an extra couple of days.”

 The Doctor went to his knees in front of Sarah, and leaned in close. “I could certainly think of worse.”

 “So, is it an option to simply wait for the flood season to end to get the Tardis?” Sarah bit her lip suggestively.

 “Oh… that’ll be a couple more months at least. Besides, the Tardis is in the middle, at the very bottom. We’d still have to fish it out.”

 “Fair enough.” Sarah pushed her fingers through the now-dry hair above the man’s ears to pull him in closer. “Two more days, it is.” She initiated a slow kiss.

 The Doctor’s hands came up to push up Sarah’s dress, and his fingers hooked in the waistband of her trousers. When they broke the kiss, he yanked at them. Sarah fell back on the mattress and the Doctor hovered over her.

 “I believe you asked me how long I could hold my breath?” The Timelord’s mouth descended on her neck, then started kissing its way down Sarah’s body.

  ********

 Late afternoon two days later, the Doctor, Sarah, Bayek, and a hired crew of workers were on a trireme, over the spot the Tardis was hidden in the depths of the river. The Doctor inspected the two assembled large pulleys on one side of the boat, making certain they were up to the task. Satisfied, he nodded to Bayek, and they both stripped off their tunics, then tied both rope ends around their waists.

 While Bayek relayed instructions to the crew, Sarah pulled the Doctor down for a good luck kiss. They broke apart, and Bayek asked, “Are you ready?”

 The Doctor took one of Sarah’s hands and raised it to his mouth to kiss the back of it. Then, with a toothy grin, he let go and dove into the water. Bayek followed only a second later.

 The Doctor’s smile widened in relief when they came upon the Tardis, stuck against the same boulder formation and in the same patch of thick vegetation as before. He swam over to it, and patted the top. He nodded to Bayek, and they both positioned themselves over the Tardis. They planted their feet on the boulder, placed their hands on the lantern on top of the Tardis, and pushed.

 Once they had pushed the Tardis far enough from the boulder, the Doctor slipped his hands down to the top edge of the ship, and held it steady. Bayek swam around it, undoing the rope at his waist and tying it in a secure knot. They switched places, and the Doctor did the same with his rope.

 Bayek went up for air, and to tell the crew to start pulling the Tardis up. The Doctor stayed below to check the knots. Then he laid his hand on the door, mentally apologizing to his ship and assuring she would be on dry land soon.

 Bayek came back down just as the Tardis began to shift. It dragged along the riverbed for a couple of meters. Once it started to rise, both men went to hold the bottom edges to help the ropes support its weight.

 Sarah instantly recognized the Tardis as it began to surface, but it wasn’t the right colour. Still, that didn’t tamper her relief to see it. The Doctor and Bayek surfaced on either sides of it, and she kneeled down to help them up.

 As soon as the Tardis was high enough, the work crew rotated the pulleys to bring it aboard, and gently lowered it down to the deck.

 The Doctor slipped an arm around Sarah’s back, and watched the crew crowd around and examine what they had brought up. Sarah whispered, “Why’s it sandy-coloured?”

 The Timelord whispered back, “She’s been down there for weeks. The chameleon circuit kicked in to camouflage her. Give it a couple hours and she’ll be her normal self again.”

 “Back to Letopolis,” Bayek told the crew. “Drinks are on me and the Doctor!” The idea was met with cheers from the workers.

 On the way back to the dock, the Tardis was covered with a large piece of rough cloth, to prevent curious eyes from taking interest. Once they reached land, the Doctor put his tunic back on, having let the sun dry his wet skin. Then he and Sarah were led to the equivalent of a pub.

 It didn’t take long for the workers to crowd around the Doctor in good cheer as they drank beer and he started telling stories of their travels. He made sure to keep it within the confines of the local understanding. Sarah sat a table away, smiling as she simply watched him, nursing a cup of beer and eating fruit and bread from a plate.

 After a while, Sarah briefly glanced up as Bayek sat beside her.

 “If you are half the story-teller he is, I would love to hear some from you,” the Egyptian commented.

 They watched the Doctor for a moment more, then Bayek turned to Sarah, his face serious. “You and he… you are not Greek.” It wasn’t a question.

 “Ah…” Sarah looked into the man’s eyes, and knew she could trust him as far as this. “No… no, we’re not.”

 “Not Roman, either.”

 Sarah shook her head.

 “What are you of, then?”

 Sarah half-smiled. “You probably won’t believe me if I told you.”

 Bayek’s little smile returned as he nodded, and he went back to watching the Doctor and the workers. “Perhaps I would,” he said quietly. He didn’t press for further answers.

 The Doctor’s stories attracted a larger crowd, and Sarah went to sit on the Timelord’s lap, and add her input to the stories that she had been part of.

 The sun had set by the time the Doctor and Sarah managed to slip away from the townspeople. They walked hand-in-hand to the docked trireme, mentally saying goodbye to Egypt. When they stepped on the boat and saw the Tardis, Sarah remarked, “Good, it’s blue again.”

 “Indeed.” Without warning, the Doctor spun Sarah around by the hand, then pulled her in close.

 Sarah’s travel bag nearly slipped from her shoulder, and she readjusted it with a giggle. “What was that for?”

 The Doctor gestured to the looming white pyramid, softly glowing with the light of the moon. “It’s a beautiful night, and we’ve had a wonderful time.” He stepped back and let his bag drop to the deck. “Beautiful night for a dance.”

 Sarah’s bag followed suit, and she took his hand.

 They didn’t need music as they held each other and slowly danced on the trireme’s deck. Just them and the beauty of the land, water, and sky around them. It really was the perfect way to end their time here.

 Sarah laid her head to the Doctor’s chest, and let out a happy sigh. Then she realized something about the Tardis. “The covering is off.”

 “Maybe the wind,” the Doctor replied, not caring. 

 Then a hooded figure stepped from behind the ship. “I think I know what you are of, now.”

 “Bayek! We didn’t realize you were here,” Sarah said.

 The man simply smiled, a friendly one. He laid a hand on the side of the Tardis. “I have encountered many strange things in recent memory. You, and this, are the least ominous.”

 “Thank you. We do try not to be ominous,” the Doctor grinned.

 “Two travelers passing as Greek, with a colour-changing cabinet that hums with power under my fingers, adorned with unknown writing… You are not of this world.”

 “Ah, well…” the Doctor started.

 “You are of the stars,” Bayek stated, stepping towards them.

 “A wonderful way of putting it,” the Doctor responded.

 “Now you leave to go back to them.”

 Sarah grabbed their bags from the deck and gave the Doctor his. She went to Bayek, and hugged him. “It was good to meet you. Thank you for all your help.”

 The Doctor gripped the Egyptian’s forearm. “Thank you. You can keep a secret?”

 “Of course.” Bayek let go of the Timelord’s arm, and stepped back from the pair. “May Ra’s light forever shine upon you.”

 “And you,” the Doctor bowed his head. Then he turned to the Tardis, held the key around his neck, and put it into the lock. As they stepped into the Tardis, he and Sarah looked out one more time.

 Within a minute, the grinding sound accompanied the dematerialization, and left a man alone on the trireme, staring in amazement.

 Inside the Tardis, Sarah commented, “That sounded off.”

 “Yes, well, she’ll be temperamental for a bit. Not that I blame her. We’ll simply stay in the Vortex for a while, let her sort herself out.”

 Sarah recognized the expression on the Doctor’s face, the one that said he was about to tinker with the console. She took the Doctor’s hands and led him to the interior door. “Come on, let’s not fuss over her. And we… we could use a proper bath.”

 The Doctor patted the console as they went past, smiling at it, then turned his smile to Sarah.


End file.
